Chris Abani



Chris Abani (born 27 December 1966) is a Nigerian author.

GraceLand (2004)

 * "This is the kola nut. This seed is a star. This star is life. This star is us".
 * Chapter One, p. 6
 * Each chapter opens with a brief description of the kola nut ceremony, an important Igbo tradition in Nigeria symbolising hospitality and respect and closes with a recipe from Elvis’ mother’s journal, which he carries with him at all times to keep her spirit with him.


 * "Elvis! Elvis! Wake up. It’s past six in de morning and all your mates are out dere looking for work,” his father, Sunday, said. “What work, sir? I have a job.” “Dancing is no job. We all dance in de bar on Saturday. Open dis bloody door!” Sunday shouted.
 * p. 8
 * Elvis' father, Sunday, wants him to quit dancing and find a better job.


 * He stared at the city, half slum, half paradise. How could a place be so ugly and violent yet beautiful at the same time? he wondered. He hadn’t known about the poverty and violence of Lagos until he arrived. It was as if people conspired with the city to weave a web of silence around its unsavoury parts.
 * p. 10
 * A vision of an altogether different world, where the first and the third world is separated virtually only by the lagoon.

TED Africa Conference (2008)

 * What I've come to learn is that the world is never saved in grand messianic gestures, but in the simple accumulation of gentle, soft, almost invisible acts of compassion, everyday acts of compassion. In South Africa they have a phrase called ubuntu. Ubuntu comes out of a philosophy that says, the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity back at me.
 * "Chris Abani muses on humanity," dotSUB (2008-11-13)


 * He said to me, "It will always be difficult, but if you cry like this every time, you will die of heartbreak. Just know it is enough sometimes to know it is difficult."
 * Quoting a former child soldier who held his hand over a goat's eyes while Abani, aged 13, killed it
 * "Chris Abani muses on humanity," dotSUB (2008-11-13)